1/15/2015 By Tom Moone
Written by By Tom Moone
CS Professor Vikram Adve has been named a 2014 Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). In his citation he was recognized “[f]or developing the LLVM compiler and for contributions to parallel computing and software security.” He is one of 49 ACM members being recognized this year for their contributions to computing.
Adve is an expert in compilers and programming languages, and their use for software security, system reliability, and parallel programming. He is one of the developers of the LLVM compiler infrastructure, which provides novel and unique capabilities for compiling software in any programming language at link-time, install-time or run-time. LLVM was released to the public in October 2003 as open source software, and has since had a major impact on the computing industry across platforms ranging from smartphones to supercomputers.
LLVM is used to build the primary compilers on all Apple iOS and MacOS systems, is used on all recent Android phones, and is used for major compiler products at Qualcomm, Sony, ARM, Intel, NVIDIA, Cray, and others. It is also used extensively for academic research, open source projects, and at government laboratories.
In nominating Adve for the award, CS Professor David Padua wrote, “Adve has made notable and influential contributions to compiler design and infrastructure, parallel computing, and software security.”
ACM will formally recognize the 2014 Fellows at its annual Awards Banquet in June in San Francisco. Additional information about the ACM 2014 Fellows, the awards event, as well as previous ACM Fellows and award winners is available on the ACM Fellows website.
In addition to this recognition, Adve and his colleagues received the ACM Software System Award in 2012 for their work on LLVM. This award is given by ACM to one software system every year “that has had a lasting influence, reflected in contributions to concepts, in commercial acceptance, or both.”